A FAIR PROPOSITION. 207 



he shall guarantee that certain results shall be produced, re- 

 gardless of the season. All the farmer can require of the 

 manufacturer of fertilizers is, that he shall state what he sells, 

 and sell what he states. I profess to have done that to the 

 very letter this year. 



The gentleman takes the analysis of the corn fertilizer : 

 the Stockbridge Corn Fertilizer calls for certain stated quan- 

 tities of plant-food, — a certain amount of nitrogen, a certain 

 amount of potash, a certain amount of iDhosphoric acid. It is 

 impossible for us to manufacture the fertilizer, and give a 

 stated quantity in four bags, and have the gross weight of 

 them uniformly the same each time. The materials which 

 we have to use vary in strength. We cannot buy in the 

 market one lot of one hundred tons, and have it all uniform 

 in strength in the market : it will vary from one to five per 

 cent in strength. Now, then, when we are to give in each 

 bag a stated quantity of plant-food, — so many pounds of 

 nitrogen and potash and phosphoric acid, — the gross weight 

 in that bag necessarily must vary with the strength of the 

 material. If any of the farmers of Sutton have got any 

 samples of the fertilizers left, if they will send them to Dr. 

 Goessmann, or to any responsible chemist in Massachusetts, 

 if he does not find that the bag contained the actual plant- 

 food called for by the Stockbridge Formula, I will pay for 

 the test, and forfeit the thousand dollars that was paid by 

 the town of Sutton. I will do that upon my honor. I will 

 do it as a fertilizer manufacturer. 



Now, why do we give such limits ? Gentlemen, if I manu- 

 facture a bag of corn fertilizer, and it weighs in one case one 

 hundred and fifty pounds, — as we did manufacture some that 

 weighed only one hundred and fifty pounds, — that bag con- 

 tains the same amount of plant-food as another bag which 

 weighs two hundred pounds exactly ; but the analysis which 

 the law requires us to put on that bag of one hundred and 

 fifty pounds must be higher. Any one of you can figure this 

 out very easily. When it is concentrated, the test must be 

 higher : when the material is weaker, then the test is lower. 

 Therefore, when we speak of a variation of from five to eight 

 per cent in nitrogen, that is to cover the variation in weight. 

 The first year we sent out the material, and filled in the 

 analyses with ink ; but we found, that, in the rush in the busy 



